What's the Purpose of Life?

[Gabbal]

The Sunnah was written some 150-200 years after the death of the prophet (scw). You didn't learn how to perform Salaat from the Sunnah... you learned it from someone who knew it who learned from someone else who knew how, that someone in turn learned from someone before him and so on... going all the way back to the first few muslims.

Do you know what the Sunnah is :confused:

 

North-

 

I honestly do not think the young man knows what he is talking about.

[N.O.R.F]

^^let be patient with him akhuey

 

You didn't learn how to perform Salaat from the Sunnah... you learned it from someone who knew it who learned from someone else who knew how, that someone in turn learned from someone before him and so on... going all the way back to the first few muslims.

Who all inturn learnt it from the Prophet (SCWS) which means they are following the SUNNAH of the prophet (SCWS)

 

The Sunnah is a customery practice of a person or group of people. It has come to refer almost exclusively to the practice of the messenger of Allah, Mohammed (SCWS) but also comprises the customes of the first generation of Muslims in Madina, who acted in accordance with what they had learned from him and who transmitted what they had learned to the next generation.

 

I think you are confusing this with what is written in the hadiths, which is the recorded Sunnah.

 

Therefore, as you recognise the Sunnah, you are infact not rejecting it but rather rejecting its recodings into hadiths. But, how do you get access to the teachings of the prophet if you are not using a method of transmission?

[QabiilDiid]

SB is completely in darkness. “And what the Prophet giveth unto take it, and what he prohibiteth desist from it.†But I have one question for SB. Are shia Muslims?

[-Serenity-]

Originally posted by Nayruus:

Are shia Muslims?

Amazing.

[Jafarel.]

I'll discuss with you how I can reject the Sunnah and accept only the Quran

Because you are among 'al-Qur’aaniyyeen' a deviant group.

 

Praise be to Allaah.

 

Some people have started to claim that the Sunnah is not a source of legislation. They call themselves “al-Qur’aaniyyeen†and say that we have the Qur’aan, so we take as halaal whatever it allows and take as haraam whatever it forbids. The Sunnah, according to their claims, is full of fabricated ahaadeeth falsely attributed to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). They are the successors of other people about whom the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us. Ahmad, Abu Dawood and al-Haakim reported with a saheeh isnaad from al-Miqdaam that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Soon there will be a time when a man will be reclining on his couch, narrating a hadeeth from me, and he will say, ‘Between us and you is the Book of Allaah: what it says is halaal, we take as halaal, and what it says is haraam, we take as haraam.’ But listen! Whatever the Messenger of Allaah forbids is like what Allaah forbids.†(Al-Fath al-Kabeer, 3/438. Al-Tirmidhi reported it with different wording, and said that it is hasan saheeh. Sunan al-Tirmidhi bi Sharh Ibn al-‘Arabi, al-Saawi edn., 10/132). The name al-Qur’aaniyyeen does not befit these people, because the Qur’aan tells us, in almost one hundred aayahs, to obey the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Obedience to the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is considered in the Qur’aan to be a part of obedience to Allaah, may He be glorified. “He who obeys the Messenger, has indeed obeyed Allaah, but he who turns away, then we have not sent you (O Muhammad) as a watcher over them.†[al-Nisa’ 4:80 – interpretation of the meaning]. The Qur’aan, which they claim to follow, denies the faith of the one who refuses to obey the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and does not accept his ruling: “But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you (O Muhammad) judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.†[al-Nisa’ 4:65 – interpretation of the meaning]

 

Their suggestion that the Sunnah is “contaminated†with fabricated ahaadeeth is not valid, because the scholars of this ummah took the utmost care to purify the Sunnah from all alien elements. If they had any doubts about the truthfulness of any narrator, or there was the slightest possibility that he could have forgotten something, this would be sufficient grounds for rejecting a hadeeth. Even the enemies of this ummah have stated that no other nation has paid so much attention to examining its reports and their narrators, especially in the case of reports narrated from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

 

For it to be obligatory to follow a hadeeth, it is sufficient for it to be known that it is a saheeh (authentic, sound) hadeeth narrated from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was content to convey his message by sending just one of his Companions, which proves that the hadeeth reported by one trustworthy person must be followed.

 

Moreover, we would ask these people: where are the aayaat which tell us how to pray, or which tell us that the obligatory prayers are five times daily, or which tell us about the nisaab on various kinds of wealth for the purpose of zakaah, or about the details of the rituals of Hajj, and other rulings which we can only know from the Sunnah?

 

ABOUT THE SUNNAH, the Prophet SAW said ' This knowledge will be carried by the trustworthy ones of every generation - they will expel from it the alterations made by the those going beyond bounds, the false claims of the liars and the false interpretations of the ignorant.'

 

Sxb, I ask Allah SWT to guide upon the path that the Prophet SAW and his noble companions were on.

 

Allah knows best.

Upon u be peace....

[Socod_badne]

Originally posted by Northerner:

I think you are confusing this with what is written in the hadiths, which is the recorded Sunnah.

 

I know what the Sunnah is... its not much different from Hadiiths. Both are purported sayings and acts of the prophet scw (the way he lived and practiced what is revealed in the Quran, no?). You can split hair all you like, at the end of the day the Sunnah is subordinate to the Quran -- my source. Even the prophet scw himself in Sahiih hadiith is noted to have told muslims not to record his life for fear the hadiith will become like the Talmud of the Jewish faith. But he also is noted to have said the opposite.

 

One correction. Earlier I said the hadiths were 'writen' 150-200 after the prophets death. I meant to say COMPILED by Imaam Bukhari and others. The ahadiith were actually first writen during the prophet's (scw) time.

 

 

But, how do you get access to the teachings of the prophet if you are not using a method of transmission?

Why would I NEED that? I have the Quran.

[Socod_badne]

Originally posted by Nayruus:

But I have one question for SB. Are shia Muslims?

No. They're martian.

[N.O.R.F]

SB

 

Again you are contradicting your previous comments,,,

 

I know what the Sunnah is... its not much different from Hadiiths. Both are purported sayings and acts of the prophet scw (the way he lived and practiced what is revealed in the Quran, no?). You can split hair all you like, at the end of the day the Sunnah is subordinate to the Quran -- my source

1) The Sunnah is/are the way(s) of the Prophet Mohammed SCWS.

2) The compiling of the his sayings/actions are in the Hadiths ie a record of his Sunnah

3) The Hadiths are 'recordings' of the prophet's (SCWS) Sunnah and not the actual Sunnah

4) The Hadiths are NOT 'the' Sunnah but a record of the Prophet's (SCWS) Sunnah

 

As you mentioned before, you learnt how to pray etc from someone who learnt from someone else all the way back to the original source (the Prophet scws and the sahaba radyallau-canum. Thus making YOU a follower of the Sunnah!

 

You reject the recordings of the Sunnah and not the actual Sunnah (the way of the prophet). Please seperate the two.

 

What was the reason for the recoding of the Prophet's (SCWS) Sunnah?

[Gabbal]

^His position is that, for a single subject he would accept the oral version whilst opposing the written version when in any established society the written version would be superior to that of the oral version!

 

I told you, the young man has no idea what he is taking about and this latter opposition to the hadiith for ludicrious reasons is a ruse and cover-up from his earlier athiestic stand. He is polluting the forum, leave him be.

[Socod_badne]

North,

 

This is getting quite redundant. If I wasn't clear enough regarding my position before, hopefully this post will rectify that and put an end to this discussion.

 

 

Originally posted by Northerner:

1) The Sunnah is/are the way(s) of the Prophet Mohammed SCWS.

 

Agreed.

 

 

2) The compiling of the his sayings/actions are in the Hadiths ie a record of his Sunnah

 

Stop right there! The alleged sayings/actions of the prophet (scw) are alleged to be in the hadiiths. I, and this is no shock to anyone by now, don't put much stock in the hadiths as reliable source. It is for this reason I reject them, along with the purported sayings/actions of the prophet (scw) -- ie the Sunnah.

 

Now, I think the misunderstanding here is your impression that I reject THE Sunnah of the prophet (scw), the way he lived and what he exhorted... if that was the case I wouldn't be a muslim as I would be reneging the Shahada. Reason being to reject what the prophet did and said is to reject what God enjoined in Quran. Nothing could be further from the truth!

 

I don't reject the the Sunnah, I reject the source purported to host the Sunnah. That is just one reason. Another is Allah said everything he revealed is found IN the Quran and no where else. In the Quran where it mentions to follow the prophet, it's telling us muslims to follow the MESSAGE -- ie what Allah revealed in the Quran. So my decision to strictly rely on the Quran is sensible one. As you or someone else have said the Sunnah is the 'living quran' or the Quran at practice. The prophet's (scw) source and guidance was the Quran. I'm simply relying on HIS source, one whose authenticity and reliability I have complete trust and confidence.

 

Hope that cleared up things.

[N.O.R.F]

SB, I will highlight your short comings to put a stop to your nonsensical arguments and limitless contradictions. The rest of the nomads have gotten bored with it but I will put a final nail in your argumentative coffin!

 

In the Quran we are instructed to perform many acts of worship without details of how those acts of worship should be carried out. This is in-turn obtained from the Sunnah of the prophet scws through the narrations of the his sahabah and his wives radyallahu anhum.

 

Therefore, for you to say you reject the ‘alleged sayings/actions’ reported in the ahadiths and only rely upon the Quran, but at the same worship in the way of the prophet scws (as mentioned in one of your previous posts) through ‘hear say’ (which was obtained from the ways of the prophet scws whether written or not) is ridiculous.

 

Do you realize those people who you learned how to perform prayers from taught you in the way of the prophet scws through the same ‘alleged’ sayings & actions you are rejecting? They also perform other acts of worship through the reporting of the sunnah.

 

Do you see where you are going wrong here?

 

You didn't learn how to perform Salaat from the Sunnah... you learned it from someone who knew it who learned from someone else who knew how, that someone in turn learned from someone before him and so on... going all the way back to the first few Muslims.

Did they all obtain their knowledge of how to perform prayers through the same ‘alleged’ (your term) sayings and actions?? Or can they see back in time through a crystal ball?

 

Do you remember the other topic regarding rejecting gaining knowledge from the Ulama? If I remember correctly, you wished to teach yourself rather than gain knowledge from the Ulama. You had a good point in that topic regarding how one should be careful whom and what he believes but thats just commonsense.

 

Now, refusing to gain knowledge from those with more knowledge than yourself but at the same relying upon others (who are less knowledgeable than the Ulama you rejected to hear) on how to perform your acts of worship (as many ‘ways’ of worshipping are not mentioned in the Quran) is another contradiction. You are relying upon someone else yet you have stated that you have chosen to be alone in your learning? Plus that person(s) is following the Sunnah (all aspects of it) but you are rejecting the same hadiths that this person(s) is following!

 

Therefore unless you pray a different way and have your own style of worshipping, You are in fact not rejecting the recorded Sunnah (reported sayings/actions of the prophet scws) but actually embracing it without realizing.

 

I don't reject the the Sunnah, I reject the source purported to host the Sunnah. That is just one reason. Another is Allah said everything he revealed is found IN the Quran and no where else. In the Quran where it mentions to follow the prophet, it's telling us muslims to follow the MESSAGE -- ie what Allah revealed in the Quran. So my decision to strictly rely on the Quran is sensible one. As you or someone else have said the Sunnah is the 'living quran' or the Quran at practice. The prophet's (scw) source and guidance was the Quran. I'm simply relying on HIS source, one whose authenticity and reliability I have complete trust and confidence.

So what do you know about the prophet Mohammed scws, his sayings and actions??

 

Now, I think the misunderstanding here is your impression that I reject THE Sunnah of the prophet (scw), the way he lived and what he exhorted... if that was the case I wouldn't be a muslim as I would be reneging the Shahada. Reason being to reject what the prophet did and said is to reject what God enjoined in Quran. Nothing could be further from the truth!

As you have rejected the reported sayings & actions of the prophet, now you are saying that you cant reject the sayings of the prophet as this will nullify your islam. So what actions and sayings of the prophet scws are available to you if you have rejected the hadiths? If there are any in the Quran, please share.

 

I think it is obvious to everyone here that most of your rabblings are baseless and are infact aimed at causing nuisance rather than contributing anything positive in the way of discussion. Whats worse, the amount of contradictions, ill judgements and ‘lapses’ in knowledge in the fundamental of ones deen I find somewhat concerning for one living in a place with more resources for gaining knowledge than many places in the world including where I am right now in an Islamic country. Many people are striving to become mumins and you are bordering on disbelief (in my eyes).

 

Oh Canada, what have you produced? What have your ‘free thinking’ ways done to our brother?

 

Ps Barcelooooonaaaaaaaa!

[RedSea]

Assalamu Calaykum,

Alxamdu Lilah verily all praise is due to Allah.If Allah chooses to guide someone there is none to misguide and if Allah misguides someone there is none that can guide and may peace and blessing be upon our beloved prophet Muxamed son of Abdallah and the seal of all messengers. After that.

 

I don't agree with how some brothers have went about when it comes to answering your question. However, I don't know that you want someone to answer the question for you for your report in socialogy class or else, because for a Muslim to be asking that type of question in this day and age is trully sad to see. There is absolutely no excuse of any kind for you brother to not know what you were created for, because honestly let us examine the issue deeply and let us analyze your question. Your question is what is the purpose of life? meaning same thing as why was I created or what I am doing here? those are all similar questions to yours.

 

I can except that type of question from non Muslim but for a Muslim to ask that type of question is utterly embarassing, don't get me wrong because I am not saying that you shouldn't have, but it's bit odd for a Muslim such as yourself to not know what he/she was brought to being. Obviously, you could be playing around or just want some poeple to respond to your post or maybe you have posted so you could give a chance for non Muslim to read the thread in case they visit this site, if that is the case may Allah reward you for it.But if in reality you are the one who wants to actually know what the purpose of life is then I suggest you think to your self and take a time to revaluate your life and where you need to go from here.

 

Now let me try to answer from based on what I know from the teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Allah exalted is he in might said clearly in the noble Qur'an " Wamaa Khalaqtul Jinna wal inza illaa liyacbuduun". (suratul Jinn). Meaning "verily we haven't created the Jinn (unseen creatures) and Inz (visible creatures) except that they worship me (Allah). In another verse from the glorious Qur'an Allah says: Tabarakal ladii biyadihil mulku wahuwa calaakulli shay'in qadiir. Alladii Khalaqal mawta wal Xayaata layabluwakum ayyukum axsanu camalaa, the verse continues.(Tabarak or Mulk). If I to try to translate roughly the said verse. It means "Praise who in his hand is all the power(the kingdom and ownership of all things)and he who has the control and the grip of all( things, living or non living). He who creates the death and life to see who is better in doing the good manners. So you see brother Socod Badne we are created to worship Allah exalted is he, and to thank him for all that he has bestowed upon us.

 

We are beneficiries of many things that we haven't paid for, the hands, the eyes, the ears, the functioning of the liver,the heart, the inhale and exhale of the lungs, and we don't pay a dime for them to function but all we have to do and that we have been created is for us to worship Allah the benefactor and recognise him. It's that alone and it's that simple no need for us to look the answer elsewhere, it's in our Qur'an which costs about few pounds or dollars so buy it or blow the dust from the one you probably already have and read,observe and dig out the answers yourself without anybody telling you what the purpose of life means or dealing the headache and the many nomads who get kick out of justing twinsting everything when asked something.

 

After all you cannot travel without a map or atleast knowing where you are headed, because life is a journey which Allah has put us in so be well equiped in the way you worship Allah so you can be those whom Allah is pleased and yes this definately applies to everyone including myself. I can understand life in the west is really difficult but it won't be very difficult once you are on the straight path which leads you to the everlasting peace in paradise. Your heart will be in fine rest once and you start to see this whole world as a small

and worthless "thing" once you become close to Allah and that is a bit of advice from me to you brother and to all as well as to myself.

 

P.S. Sunnah means everything that wasn't emposed by Allah but however practiced by the prophet as a way for us to earn extra credit. You know like school you don't have to do the extra credit to earn the extra credit points but it's way for you to catch up if you are little behind. Sunnah is optional but verily recomended to raise our faith or Eman.

 

Furthermore, please Brother Socod Badne ignore the negatives said by others and take from those who said it best and May Allah guide us ALL to the straight path insha Allah.

 

Assalamu Calaykum.

[Haneefah]

[Nur]

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Presents:

 

 

How To be Successful

 

 

Are You Fit For The Purpose?

 

 

That is right!, are you successful, because sucess is a measure of how much of a desired result you have attained within a given time frame.

 

In school you learn that good grades are the ticket to success later in life, only to see, those despised in school riding high with better jobs and more prestigious social status than you the nerd. So, let us ask, are grades a measure of success?

 

At work, in the corpprate world, it is monkey business, monkeys on a tree, the Corporate tree, fighting for bananas, some monkeys climb higher up on the corporate tree, other unsuccessfull monkeys struggle hanging with their tails on lower branches, way down the bottom of the tree, smart monkeys who made it to the top look down at monkeys on the bottom with pride as all they see are lowly smiling monkeys below, while monkeys on the bottom look up at monkeys on top and laugh as all they see is their naked rear ends. So, does that mean that the monkey who rides the highest branch and dies with the most bananas in his possession is the most successful?

 

 

So, what is success? how do you measure success?

 

Well, success is simply being fit for a purpose, if you are still undecided of the purpose for which you exist, I assure you with certainty that you will never succeed in life while in this state of aimlessness, because success is a vector quantity, it has direction as well as magnitude, without direction, no matter what quantity you base your success with, it will be hollow and you will feel a big void in your life, a void so large, even a large size Pizza with mushrooms, olives, green peppers would not fill.

 

Therefore, what we need is to define a Purpose for which we exist, live for and are willing to die for, if it is required.

 

Having no purpose in life is like travelling toward unknown destination, you can never be sure of your accomplishment, and hence you may never be happy.

 

So, the next logical step is to ask the difficult question, who should set that direction for us ? is it us, humans, in other words are some fellow humans ( like our Politicians)the architects of our fate and destiny? are they indeed capable in solving our problems? Contrary to that notion, Einstein said, a problem is never solved at the same intellectual level it was created in the first place, Solution to our problems can only come from a higher authority not from big belly politicians, which means that humans can never be the masters of their destiny since they had no control of events that brought them to life and continues to lead their daily lives.

 

Now, think with me, before we tackle the problem of success in life, let us define what success means once more.

 

Success means Fitness For A Purpose .

 

We all know what fitness means, it means, a set of requirements that measure how close we are to a desired goal or a purpose.

 

As a runner, I would measure how fast I run a lap or how many minutes it takes me to run a mile. I would also measure my heart pulse, blood pressure, muscle mass, and at one time, for curiosity, I weighed myself before running eight mile distance, and after completing the run at the desired speed , I found that I almost lost a pound and a half, mostly water, which explains that life is a zero sum, you decide what you want to take and what price you are willing to pay for it. So in that example, my fitness meant that I was well within the range of measures that I set for myself to achieve.

 

 

Now that we have figured out what fitness means, lets define what a Purpose means.

 

A Purpose , is an internal picture of a decision, an intention( Niyah )desire to reach an objective or a goal, this definition is not from a dictionary, its a native e-Nuri definition, so in case it agrees with any dictionary rest assured that it is a genuine e-Nuri, since I did not have the time to look it up.

 

So, success means Fitness For A Purpose ,

 

The first part, the Fitness is a tangible quantity.

 

The second part, Purpose , is abstract, it is like beauty, a purpose or an intention to reach a goal is an abstract quantity that can only be measured with a predetermined set of metrics we call Fitness .

 

Now, the piecs of the puzzle are finally coming together, our success in this life depends on how much we meet requiremensts the stake holder of our life has desired.

 

As Muslims we all know, the stake holder of our life is Allah SWT, who clearly communicated through revelations that His intention behind our creation was Solely His worship. Allah SWT said in the Quran " I have not created the Jinn and Mankind except for the purpose of my worship "

 

Therefore our success in the next life depends on how much we have worshiped Allah SWT in this present life.

 

So, what is Worship?

 

 

That is another story altogeher, a very interesting one, and the purpose for which you were created, for which you are given for sensing a pair of eyes, ears, a nose and finger tips, for analysing the data you collect with a brain, all of which are optimized for finding your way back to your maker, the better understanding you have for the true meaning of Worship , the closer you will be to approach success and hence genuine happiness in this life and the next.

 

 

............ To be continued

 

Nur

 

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